


The Gift of Giving

by HiddenDirector



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Autobot Starscream, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Gift Fic, Gift Giving, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 16:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18702862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenDirector/pseuds/HiddenDirector
Summary: Christmas present for OverlordRaax, set in the same universe as her alternate timeline fanfic Possession.  Please read that first, though if you choose not to, you should still be able to enjoy this.When the Autobots decide to celebrate Christmas to humor their human friends, they do a Secret Santa to make things easier.  It wasn't easy for Starscream, though, who got Optimus Prime himself as his gift receiver.





	The Gift of Giving

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OverlordRaax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlordRaax/gifts).



There was a lot Starscream didn’t understand about human culture.  Their holidays were at the top of that list.  Not all of them celebrated the same holidays, and not all of them were for significant things.  Also, there were a lot of them.  It felt like every day of the year was a holiday somewhere.  ‘Thanksgiving’ had just ended, and now about five different holidays were being celebrated almost at the same time.  The one all of the kids the Autobots spent time with celebrated, though, was Christmas.

They’d wasted no time getting to decorating the bridge of the Ark, cheery music playing in the background.  Boughs of holly and strings of lights, wreaths of pine branches, candles, and fake snow.  A tree in the corner, which was apparently far larger than the typical Christmas tree.  Starscream didn’t see what the big deal was.  It was barely as tall as he was.  But they decorated it with beads and glass balls, a star on the very top.

Under the tree they placed presents.  What was with humans and giving gifts?  They seemed to take any opportunity to give each other free things.  Free treats on Halloween, massive amounts of fueling food on Thanksgiving, chocolate (which they seemed obsessed with) on Valentine’s Day.  And now presents on Christmas.  With how many Autobots there were in the Ark, they decided to opt out of everyone getting something for everyone else.  Instead, they all put in for a ‘Secret Santa.’  They placed their names into a random generator Teletraan-1 had.  They then went in one at a time, and each Autobot was assigned a different other to find a gift for.  They weren’t allowed to tell that person that they were the gift-giver, which was the twist.

Some had opted out, choosing their own gift-receiver.  Starscream knew that Tracks and Raoul were gifting to each other.  (He sometimes wondered about those two.)  Cliffjumper and Red Alert had as well, not trusting anyone with the task.  Instead, they were exchanging with each other, which had the potential to go either hilariously wrong or boringly right.  Wheeljack and Ratchet voted the Dinobots out of it for them, deciding to get them something themselves.  Starscream had gotten them something himself, not wanting them to think Wheeljack and Ratchet favored them more than he did.

Not that he cared.

Starscream had wanted to opt out with Skyfire and simply get each other something.  Skyfire had annoyingly reasoned with him that this was an excellent opportunity to show the others that they were grateful for everything they’d done since they dug them out of the ice.  So Starscream had gone in and pressed the button for his random name.

Of course, because fate hated him, he received the last person he wanted.

Optimus Prime himself.

What was Starscream supposed to get the most powerful general of the Autobot army?  What kinds of things did Optimus _like_ outside of commanding his men?  He liked humans, sure, but _everyone_ in the Autobots seemed to like the squishy creatures.

Why couldn’t he have gotten someone easy?  Any of the science team he could’ve handled.  He knew what they liked.  Someone like Blaster or Jazz who loved music, or Ironhide who wanted weapons.

“Starscream, I’m getting dizzy watching you,” Skyfire said in amusement, sitting on their berth while Starscream paced a hole in the floor.

“I don’t know what to do!” Starscream whined stopping and turning to face him.  “I’m going to look like a fool because I don’t even know what our esteemed leader likes!”

“You’ll be fine,” Skyfire chuckled, standing up.  He walked over and leaned down, nuzzling Starscream’s face with his olfactory sensor.  The seeker felt himself relax at the feeling.  “Why don’t you ask someone?  The rule is only that Optimus can’t know you drew him.”

Starscream thought on it, not liking the idea.  He was already self-conscious about the fact that he knew nothing of Prime outside of his leadership capabilities.  Still, Skyfire was right.  If he didn’t ask someone, he’d make an even bigger fool of himself.  “Who did you draw, anyway?” he asked curiously.  “You’ve never told me.”

“Well… I’d rather not say,” Skyfire answered shiftily.

“…it’s not me, is it?” Starscream asked suspiciously.

“No, no,” the shuttle laughed.  He lifted Starscream and looped his hands under his legs, so he straddled his waist as Skyfire stood up.  If anyone else did something like this, Starscream would be offended and demand they put him down.  But they weren’t Skyfire, who he instead wrapped his own arms around the neck of.  “I simply want to keep it as a surprise.  Not that I don’t trust you to keep it a secret, but I don’t want to take any risks.”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s acceptable,” Starscream muttered.  “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Thank you,” Skyfire smiled, kissing him.

Starscream exvented in contentment and melted into it, shuttering his optics.  It was amazing how his sparkmate could make him feel so much better.

 

\---

 

It had taken time to decide who to ask about Optimus, but Starscream finally decided on Jazz.  He was the least likely to say anything and was closer to Prime than most everyone else.  The second-in-command was sitting in his office, funky Christmas music pumping through the speakers on a nearby shelf.  He tapped a pede to the beat, snapping his servos as he read a datapad before him.  The black and white mech always looked so relaxed; Starscream didn’t know how he did it.  If he had to help run this bunch of misfits, he’d probably go crazy.

“Jazz?” Starscream asked, knocking on the doorframe.  Jazz rarely closed his door.  He liked making his office inviting.

“Yo, ‘Scream!” Jazz greeted, putting the datapad down and turning so he faced forward.  “What’s shakin’, my mech?”

“Do you mind if I…?” Starscream asked awkwardly, gesturing to the door.  When Jazz nodded, he closed it and walked over, sitting down.  “This isn’t easy for me to ask, so I’m just going to come right out and say it,” he admitted stiffly.  “I don’t know what to get Prime for Christmas.”

Jazz looked taken aback for a moment.  He then laughed.  “I was wonderin’ who got the daunting task of buying for him!  I’m so sorry, mech!” he said through his chuckles.  When he calmed, he leaned on his elbow on the desk, grinning.  “How’d you know to come to me?”

“I just… narrowed it down, I suppose,” Starscream said, puzzled.  This wasn’t where he thought this conversation would go.  “You’re his second-in-command, the most trustworthy person I know.  You would never tell a secret, unlike half this crew who can’t seem to keep their lip components shut.  And you seem particularly close to- _why are you looking at me like that?_ ”

Jazz shook his head, smile widening.  “Not what I was expectin’ but fair enough.  You wanna know what Prime likes to do when he’s not bossin’ us around, right?”

Starscream watched curiously as Jazz opened a drawer in his desk, rifling around for a moment.  He then pulled out another datapad, holding it out to the seeker.  The red and black mech looked at it before his optics went wide.  “Is this…?”

“A list of all of the things Prime has mentioned he wants to look into in Earth culture.  Chronologically from when we arrived,” Jazz answered.

“…why do you have this?” Starscream asked, feeling a little weirded out by it.

“Reasons,” Jazz said cryptically.

Starscream opened his mouth to say something else then thought better of it.  It was weird enough without an explanation.  He didn’t need to ruin the mystique.  “Thank you, though,” he said instead.  “This’ll help me greater than anything I could’ve hoped you’d say.”

“I know.  Just make sure you bring it back when you’re done,” Jazz said, leaning back in his seat and picking the datapad he was reading before back up.  “Happy gift hunting.”

 

\---

 

Christmas was probably the most circuit-wracking thing Starscream had ever encountered.  The kids honestly seemed more excited about it than the actual Autobots, but he chalked that up to the holiday having some kind of real meaning to them.  The Autobots were more doing it just to humor them than anything else.  The religion it revolved around had done nothing for Starscream than cause some major helmaches to figure out.

It would’ve taken too long for all of them to give their gifts individually, so instead, they’d put them around the tree for each other to search for.  Wading through the sea of gifts (how they managed to procure so much wrapping paper would remain a mystery) was quite the feat in itself, let alone spotting the one present in the dozens that belonged to an individual.

“Aha!” Starscream turned quickly to the sound of Sunstreaker picking up his own present, holding it up triumphantly.  He tore at the paper until it revealed a holo-calendar.  It was for universal date-keeping instead of Earthen, but that wasn’t important.  What was optic-catching was the multitude of sexy Cybertronians projecting with each date.  Each in suggestive poses, too.  A couple of the Autobots wolf-whistled at the sight, causing Sunstreaker to laugh.  “Alright, which one of you decided to embarrass me in front of everyone?” he called.

“Not me this time!” Sideswipe called to him.

“Guilty!” Bluestreak finally spoke up, holding up a hand.  In his other was clutched a datapad that had loaded on it the first two seasons of _CHEERS_.  “I thought you liked good-looking ‘bots!”

“I love it,” Sunstreaker assured him, walking over and throwing an arm around his shoulderplates.

Blaster received an entire set of new tunes.

Mirage an empty box (which Sideswipe claimed was an ‘invisible’ present that must’ve been misplaced).

Ironhide got a cleaning kit for his weapons.

“Oh, brilliant!” Perceptor gasped, holding a device in his hands.  “A gyroscopic converter!  But I assumed the last of these was on-”

“Cybertron, yes,” Skyfire spoke up, looking a bit self-conscious.  “That was a bit of a team effort.  But you do-”

“Love it!” the microscope enthused.  “I’ve required one for ages, but I believed I’d have to wait until the completion of the war to get one!  Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome,” Skyfire smiled as Perceptor held the device up to Wheeljack to show it off.  He looked like a youngling who got a shiny new toy on his Creation Day.  He then looked at Starscream, who raised an optic ridge at him.  Skyfire shrugged and returned to watching.

Starscream understood why he didn’t want to share who he had gotten for his Secret Santa receiver now.  While he didn’t feel threatened by Perceptor, he still didn’t like how close he and Skyfire had become.  That Skyfire had organized a retrieval mission all the way on Cybertron, which was always being monitored by Shockwave, was only feeding into his frustration.

Starscream decided to concentrate on the others before he lost his cool.

Prowl received a datapad full of relaxation techniques.  He thought it was less funny than Jazz did.

Trailbreaker got a vintage cube of Engex, apparently ferreted away in someone’s stash until they decided this was a good cause for it.

“Aren’t you going to open your present, Starscream?” Carly asked, standing on a table near where he was watching from.

Starscream looked at the package in his hands.  Not knowing who it was from made him reluctant enough to know what was in it.  Whatever was hidden under the colorful paper was an indicator of what someone here thought of him.  Of whom they thought he was.  He finally exvented and pulled at the paper.  He’d seem rude and ungrateful if he didn’t follow through with this, anyway.  When he opened the box, he stopped and stared.  It was a model of… himself.  Well, his jet mode, anyway.  Was this what people thought of him?  That he was so vain, he’d want to keep a toy of himself around?  He grunted in annoyance and put it to the side, returning his attention out to those still opening gifts.

Jazz had found his own, opening it more patiently than most of the others.  When he got to the inside, he pulled out a framed picture.  That had been unexpected, as Cybertronians always used holo-projectors.  They had no use for flat images.  He looked at it for a moment before chuckling and subspacing it before anyone could catch a glimpse.  He then looked at Optimus, who simply nodded back at him before focusing on his own gift.

Starscream felt his spark clench in nervousness as Optimus peeled the paper off of the spherical present.  Speaking of holo-projectors, he held a large one, one he had to hold in both hands.  He put it on the ground and pushed the button that activated it.

The Autobots all turned to look as a projection took up nearly half the bridge.  It was a full, 3D holographic image of the Iguazu Falls in South America.  It moved, the water cascading off of the falls continuously into the river below.  Everyone but the science team, who’d helped make it, was surprised by the sight of it.

It hadn’t been easy to make.  Starscream had to first figure out where the Iguazu Falls were (and being as he cared nothing about Earth geography, he required Skyfire right off the bat).  Mainframe and Perceptor had provided him with the necessary recording equipment to capture the 3D image.  He had to fly over the entirety of the falls at a steady, even speed at least a hundred times at all angles.  It was one of the most exhausting flying exercises he ever did, being as if he faltered during one of the passes he had to start all over again.  When he was finished, Perceptor and Wheeljack helped make the larger-than-usual projector.  Mainframe then entered the visual data and put it all together to make sure there wasn’t a single flaw in the image.  Honestly, this was more from the entire Science Team than just Starscream.

“This is incredible,” Optimus said, walking around it.  “Who did this?”

The Science Team members looked at each other but didn’t say anything.  It was up to the Secret Santas to reveal themselves if they so choose.  Starscream almost did, too.  But he realized that he didn’t want the recognition.  It was weird, but it felt like enough that it made Optimus happy.  When Starscream saw the Iguazu Falls on the list, he knew that was what he wanted to do.  Everything else seemed so small compared to it.

“That’s alright,” Optimus assured the room.  “If you’d rather not say, I’ll just say thank you.”  He turned the projection off and put the projector on one of the tables.  “This has been a great Christmas.  Thank you, Spike, Carly, Chip, and Raoul.  Introducing us to this holiday has been a blessing to all of us.  May we experience many other aspects of Earth culture, and share some of our own.”

 

\---

 

Starscream exvented again, sitting on the berth in his and Skyfire’s room while looking in the box.  The little model inside still made him… strangely angry.  Was this really what they thought of him?  Someone whose favorite thing was himself?

“Starscream, are you alright?” Skyfire asked, sitting down next to him.

“Am I vain?” the seeker asked, not looking away from his gift.

“Starscream!” Skyfire exclaimed in surprise.  “Why would you even ask that?”

“Because whoever got me my gift gave me a toy of myself,” Starscream said in disgust, gesturing to it.

“Well, then, I suppose they think the same as me,” Skyfire said in amusement.  When Starscream finally looked at him in confusion, he walked over to the shelf he’d put the box his own gift was in and brought it over.  He opened it, and Starscream vented in disbelief.

The box held a toy of Skyfire’s shuttle form, just like Starscream’s.  “But… why?” was all Starscream could manage.

“I don’t know, but it flies,” Skyfire said, picking it up out of the box.  He pressed a button, and it began to hover, flying lazy circles around them.

Starscream now found himself curious, reaching into his own box and pulling his toy out.  He found a button like the one on Skyfire’s, pressing it.  It seemed to shoot out of his hands, amazing them both as it flew straight to Skyfire’s.  The two toys reacted to each other, starting to fly circles around the entire room, looping and weaving around each other.  Just like they did when they flew together.

The red and black seeker looked at his white and red sparkmate, smiling as his sapphire optics followed the toys around the room.  He moved closer to the much larger mech, pressing himself into his side and watching with him.  Whoever made these toys… he’d completely misjudged their intent.  The two who were Starscream and Skyfire’s Secret Santas made them matching toys, ones that represented their love for each other.  That was… strangely sweet.  He’d have to find out who made them if they wanted to step forward.  He wanted to thank them sincerely.

“Merry Christmas, Skyfire,” he found himself whispering.

Skyfire’s lip components pressed to the top of his helm, and he tilted it back so they could kiss properly.  “Merry Christmas, Starscream,” Skyfire chuckled.

 

\---

 

Optimus put the holo-projector on a shelf of his quarters, stepping over to his mirror and removing his mask.  Sometimes it was easy to forget it wasn’t an actual part of his face.

The Autobot leader didn’t even look when the door opened, the metal clang of pedes across the floor expected and welcome.  He finally glanced at his berth through the mirror when his visitor flopped down on it.

Jazz grinned at him, leaning on one arm lazily.  “So, you liked it, huh?” he asked.

“Was it you?” Optimus asked in surprise.  What were the odds they would’ve gotten each other out of everyone?

“Nah, I just gave him the idea.  You’re not an easy cat to browse for,” Jazz said, pushing himself up into a sitting position.  “Speakin’ of…”  He reached into his subspace and pulled the framed picture back out again.

Optimus hadn’t expected to get Jazz as his receiver of gifts.  He knew exactly what he wanted to give him as soon as he did, though.  Jazz liked the ‘old school’ way humans did things.  The physical presence seemed important to him.  So he had some of their more creative members of the team craft a picture frame big enough for them.  The leader walked over and took it from Jazz, turning and placing it on the shelf with the projector.  In it was an old picture file Optimus had Teletraan-1 print.  It was from the early days of the war when everyone was keeping up hope.  Optimus as a young leader holding Jazz in one arm.  It had been a picture taken to boost morale, show that even command wasn’t above continuing their relationships during the war.  Most probably forgot it ever existed by now, as such relationships became less public as they feared the Decepticons exploiting them.  That and many Autobots becoming cynical as the war dragged on, seeing such stunts as pointless.

Optimus felt like that kind of person sometimes.  Trying desperately to cling to what he could of his optimism.  That was what Jazz was there for, though.  His outlook on life never seemed to wane.  Even now, millions of years later, he appeared to be the same mech the red and blue Prime fell in love with.

“That was quite the holiday, wasn’t it?” Jazz asked, leaning back in the berth, arms folded behind his head.  “All those presents.  The decorations and the music.  The more I experience of this planet, the more I love it.  They never do anythin’ halfway.”

“I’m aware,” Optimus chuckled, sliding into the berth next to him.  He pulled his second-in-command into his side and reached behind himself, shutting the lights inside the room down.  “Do you think Starscream and Skyfire liked their presents?”

“I know they will.  Those two love nothin’ more than each other,” Jazz assured him.  “I’m surprised you let me do both of ‘em.”

“You say that like I could have said no,” Optimus laughed, tilting Jazz’s helm up and leaning down to cover his lip components with his own.  “You know I can’t say no to you.”

“You’ll spoil me rotten one day, mech,” Jazz teased, laying his helm on Optimus’s shoulder and venting contentedly.

“You’ve been saying that for millions of years.  I still don’t believe it,” Optimus returned, leaning his helm back and dimming his optics.  “Merry Christmas, Jazz.”

“Merry Christmas, Prime.”


End file.
